Terracotta Warriors: tickets and visiting tips

To visit the Terracotta Warriors, book admission to the Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum (秦始皇帝陵博物院). A transfer or guide service may not include a museum ticket, so check what’s included before you pay.

How to book museum tickets

The museum’s official ticket page describes online reservations using visitors’ identity details through its website and official WeChat accounts. Its visitor guide asks you to buy online before travelling to the museum.

Check your date, visitor details and entry arrangements, and make sure the booking is confirmed. The museum lists passports among the accepted original identity documents for admission. Bring the document used for your reservation.

Should you book a guide?

An independent visit lets you choose your own pace. If you’d like a guide, compare the language, group size, meeting point and included services.

Ask what “English-friendly” means if the listing uses that term. It doesn’t necessarily mean a private English-speaking guide for the whole day.

When booking through a third party, confirm who arranges museum admission and what you need to do before entry.

Planning your museum visit

Read the museum’s introduction before you go. The figures are part of a much larger archaeological and burial complex, and a little background helps explain what you’re seeing.

Use the current map and ticket details to choose which areas to visit. Leave time for the main exhibition halls and check any extra areas, galleries or transport services separately.

Getting there and back

Plan the full journey from your accommodation, including the final stop and return trip. For a tour or private transfer, confirm the pickup point and where it ends. If travelling independently, save the route and another option offline.

I suggest making the museum your main visit that day. You’ll have more time for entry checks, walking and exhibits you want to spend longer with.

Before you go

Bring the original identity document used for your booking, save the confirmation offline and check the latest visitor notice. Carry a backup way to pay and your hotel address for the journey back.

Plan Mount Huashan as a separate outing so you have time for both the journey and the mountain.